Loki Is About To Become The Sorcerer Supreme, What Is Doctor Strange To Do?

Things are going to be going sideways in ‘Doctor Strange’ #382 when it is released on December 6th, 2018, as Stephen is going to lose the title of Sorcerer Supreme to Loki. Yes, the God of Lies and Mischief is going to be taking on the mantle and it makes you wonder what kind of insanity we’re about to stumble into. There have been teases of Loki building power as of late, including one that would see him wielding the Infinity Gauntlet and it feels like writer Donny Cates and artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta are laying more of the groundwork that will see this rise to power.

Cates changes the “This will change everything” line that Marvel loves to use but can’t really go into specifics as to how Strange deals with Loki’s new groove. However, if you’ve been following the comics, the good Doctor isn’t quite up to snuff on magic these days with how much of it has been lost from the Marvel universe.

At one point he was nearly as powerful as some of the Gods and these days he can barely keep his head above water. It does make sense that someone else with the clout and power to move in and take this mantle would do so.

However, becoming the Sorcerer Supreme doesn’t give Loki new power, just new status as Cates explains:

“Obviously it makes for a hell of a powerful character, right? But, it’s important to note that the title of Sorcerer Supreme doesn’t necessarily grant you new powers. It’s a symbol of the level of power you already wield. It’s like a black belt. Having a black belt doesn’t make you better at karate…it’s an outward symbol of how good you are at karate.”

With the brief interaction between these two in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, it should be fun for comic fans to see these two go head to head in a realm where their power levels are a bit reverse. Speaking of this reverse, Cates brings it up as well! With Loki having this new power Stephen has to work with him it seems though as to why he would have to mistrust him?

“That’s the big thing in this book. So I can’t give that away, but here…let’s do this instead. Who saw “Thor: Ragnarok” this weekend? Oh, all of you did? Awesome, okay. So here we go into spoiler country…

3…

2…

1…

Okay, any of you still there? Oh, all of you are? Awesome. Okay, so you know that way too brief but amazing little back and forth between Loki and Doctor Strange in the movie? If you want more of exactly that…I got you.

Honestly, that scene was more or less a trailer for this entire run. You’re welcome!”

Color me excited! While short and sweet, that scene was a lot of fun and being able to see these two interact even more sounds like a great time. We haven’t had much of these two on the same page and working together – and not at all with the latest iteration of Loki – that I can recall.

Now while this could help lead into some of the upcoming Loki story arcs, it also hints that Strange might be working his magic on recovering his lost title from the last little tidbit Cates drops:

“The idea of legacy that runs through this arc has been crazy fun. I’ve said it before, but this arc shares so much DNA with the origin of Doctor Strange, and the long, long history of Loki. It’s all about Stephen coming to grips with the things that made him special being torn away from him, and the insane lengths he’ll go to see them returned. That’s where Stephen Strange began his journey, and that’s where we once again find him here.

As for Loki, well…you’re certainly asking the right questions. So many people get hung up on the how of it all. “How did Loki become the Sorcerer Supreme!? How can that be possible!?”

And look, we’ll answer that question, of course…but that’s not what you should be asking.

You should be asking “Why?””

So why did Loki become the Sorcerer Supreme? We’ll be finding out either next month or in one of the upcoming issues shortly after.

Are you looking forward to seeing Loki and Doctor Strange switch roles? How do you think that ended up happening? More importantly, why? Share your thoughts below True Believers!

Stuart Conover

Stuart Conover is a father, husband, blogger, published author, geek, entrepreneur, editor of Horror Tree, horror fanatic, science fiction junkie, lives in a world of comics, and a casual gamer (all of this when his wife lets him of course.) He fell in love with science fiction and horror at the same time while watching the movie Alien at probably far too young of an age while still being extremely impressionable and has been happily obsessed with both since! Around the same time, he had also developed an unhealthy addiction to comic books that continues to this day!Want to talk about anything geeky? Reach out on Twitter - @StuartConover